destroying angel

noun

1. any of several deadly poisonous mushrooms of the genus Amanita, having a white cap and stem, white spores, and a conspicuous volva at the base of the stem.

destroying angel

noun

1. a white slender very poisonous basidiomycetous toadstool, Amanita virosa, having a pronounced volva, frilled, shaggy stalk, and sickly smell

Word History and Origins

Origin of destroying angel¹

First recorded in 1905–10

Example Sentences

“There’s no antidote,” said Terrence Delaney, a plant biologist and mycologist at the University of Vermont who studies the toxin profiles of a related mushroom called the destroying angel.

From New York Times

Three mushrooms known as the destroying angel, the deadly dapperling and the funeral bell all have something in common: the fabulously lethal toxin alpha-Amanitin.

From New York Times

There was one called the “destroying angel” that would kill people who ate it so they were absolutely dead in a few days.

From Literature

Davidson adds that there are plenty of mushrooms that live up to their names, like the destroying angel or the death’s cap. “but then your organs will start failing.”

From The Verge

He defines the destroying angel as “an absence of will, of purpose,” and says, “The feeling that the door is open but we don’t go through it is with us all the time.”

From The New Yorker